Little Lesser Adjutant Stork Handraised at CWRC

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Kaziranga, Assam, November 5, 2018: A little birdie arrived from the north bank of Kaziranga National Park as a pretty hatchling. Now small black feathers in her wing are adding beauty to her. This has made caretakers at CWRC hopeful too.

The lone lesser adjutant stork at CWRC, the jointly run wildlife care facility of AFD-WTI and IFAW at Panbari RF near Kaziranga National Park, is doing well now. The previous night’s nest-fall due to a thunder-storm in Biswanath Chariali town caught the attention of villagers when they found two hatchling stage birds a backyard. The local people intimated forest authority of Biswanath Division and the two birds were kept at the satellite care facility of CWRC under the observation of Dr Rinku Gohain from IFAW-WTI on 30th September 2018.

Biswajeet Das, Assistant Conservator of Forests of Biswanath division took utmost care the birds. Under his guidance, the birds were admitted at the north-bank field station of IFAW-WTI for further care.

One of the birds admitted, was in a bad state, with broken legs and wings. It died after a few days, in spite of the department’s best efforts. The one which survived was sent to CWRC for further care on October 7th, 2018. Dr Gohain also informed us how Dr Sanjib Upadhyaya, a local academician cum wildlife lover did a commendable job in the whole rescue operation.

The bird has spent a month at CWRC now. It is kept in isolation with routine monitoring, health-check-up and proper feeding. The bird was admitted with a weight of 700 gms and now weighs 3kg 50gms. The improvement in health condition and weight gain is visible. The small white baby is now growing new black feathers on her wings and body, which shows the significant growth of the bird under care. “We are hopeful about its overall development and as soon as it’s an adult, we will release her in a suitable habitat.” said Dr Paniit Basumatary, centre veterinarian who is observing the bird.

From nest fall to growing beautiful black feathers, in a span of a month, the staffs at CWRC have developed a close bond the little bird. Now all eyes are eagerly waiting to see her flying in the sky.